easyMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped
CISA Practice Question: A small manufacturing company decides to acquire…
A small manufacturing company decides to acquire an off-the-shelf inventory management system. The purchasing manager selects a vendor based solely on the lowest price, ignoring the vendor's financial stability and support history. After purchase, the vendor declares bankruptcy, leaving the company without support. The system has a critical bug that halts inventory tracking. The IT manager considers hiring a consultant to fix the bug. As an IS auditor, what should the auditor's PRIMARY concern be?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is that candidates focus on the immediate operational impact (the bug or lack of backup) rather than the root cause governance failure in the acquisition process, which is the auditor's primary concern per CISA's emphasis on preventive controls.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
The vendor selection process lacked due diligence.
The primary concern for an IS auditor is that the vendor selection process lacked due diligence, as this directly violates the principle of proper acquisition governance. By selecting a vendor based solely on lowest price without evaluating financial stability and support history, the company exposed itself to significant operational risk, which materialized when the vendor declared bankruptcy. This oversight is a root cause failure in the information systems acquisition and implementation process, making it the most critical audit finding.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
There is no backup system for inventory management.
Why it's wrong here
Important but secondary.
- ✗
The company may have legal recourse against the vendor.
Why it's wrong here
Does not address process improvement.
- ✗
The critical bug disrupts inventory tracking.
Why it's wrong here
The bug is a consequence of poor selection.
- ✓
The vendor selection process lacked due diligence.
Why this is correct
Root cause is process failure.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This CISA practice question is part of Courseiva's free ISACA certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the CISA exam.